For those who love espresso, this can be a very expensive habit if you are purchasing a cup or two of it a day. It may be more cost effective for you to purchase an espresso machine and the ingredients to make your own espressos at home. You may have a little out of pocket expense, but in the long run, you will save money.

1. The first thing you need to decide on is what size will be right for you. If you have a large family of coffee drinkers, you may want to go with a larger machine, alternatively, if you are the only espresso drinker, a smaller unit may work better.

2. You can choose from four different types of espresso brewers for the home.

The first model uses steam to heat the water and brew the coffee. Another would be a semi automatic that has fewer features and will require more hands on use from you in order to get your coffee going.

The easiest and most cost effective of the higher quality brewers is the automatic. You can simply tell the brewing machine when you want your coffee to be ready and the timer will start brewing automatically.

The final brewer will run you over a thousand dollars and is meant for restaurants and coffee houses. This unit is wholly automatic and will even dispense the foam milk without having to put it in the steamer first.

3. There are many styles of coffee and espresso units that can be purchased. You can go with the standard larger machines or the new sleek designs for the home that will fit with any kitchen décor.

4. Many different types of metal have been used for coffee makers. This is for heating the water before it brews the coffee. By choosing a coffee maker that has a good quality heating unit, you can expect to get a long life out of your brewer.

5. If you are going to use your brewer for espresso only, you want to make sure you purchase one that has the correct pressure type. Industry standard is nine bars of pressure for a home brewer is all that is needed. If you plan on brewing more espresso than one household will average, you may want to get a larger machine.

Before you go out and purchase the first espresso maker you find, do some comparison shopping to make sure you get the right machine at the right price for you.